Sleepless Night
by azalettuce
Summary: Ironic how a girl who couldn't stand the sun despised the night. Second movie timeline.
1. Prologue

Summary: Ironic how a girl who couldn't stand the sun despised the night.

* * *

Sleepless Night

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Prologue

* * *

A distant sound of crickets. A sickening darkness that was present whether she opened her eyes or not.

In her loneliness inside her personal bedroom—to be precise the closet—the female Yato realized it.

Kagura hated night.

Now that she thought about it, the only good thing about night was that sunlight got replaced by moonlight, which was friendlier toward her body. However, compared to other things she lost in exchange of the night, she would rather get fried under the sun. Her race to be damned, Kagura preferred shortening her lifespan to being alone at night.

And so she figured to spend her life on night less, she had to sleep early and wake up early with the sun.

The Amanto shifted in her bed. She knew that, and she really wanted to pass the night quickly by falling asleep. However, she had tried for so long—it felt like it had been 5 hours already since she entered the bed—and she didn't succeed. She just lay there, eyes closed but never asleep.

What's worse was that she had been like this for 2 months. For 2 months she had ended up staying up all night, finding herself simply unable to fall into sweet slumber. No matter how tight she closed her eyes, no matter how many sheep she counted, she just couldn't fall into dreamland.

She's fucking tired for God's sake!

After some time that seemed like eternity, Kagura slowly opened her eyes, ironically getting exhausted trying to fall asleep. Growling deep in her throat, she knew she would spend the awake again like other nights before.

It was like God was ridiculing her; she hated the night, but she had to stay awake and had to go through it because she was insomniac. Did He think that making her spend a long time in nighttime would make her starting to love the night? No. No, it wouldn't. In fact, she hated the night even more now.

Placing a hand on her throbbing head—sleep deprivation had started to show its effect—Kagura thought about it. Why? Why did she have sleeping problem? It had been so easy up until 3 months ago, until he—

...

 _Right_ , Kagura sighed, her eyes suddenly felt hot. It was too quiet.

Getting enough with this shit, the girl slid the closet door open, placing her feet to the floor. In front of the closet laid Sadaharu, sleeping soundly. Seeing the enormous dog deep in slumber made Kagura smile a bit; at least he could sleep unlike her, although she envied her pet very.

Walking in slow pace to the living room so she would not suddenly startle her dog, Kagura turned on the TV with low volume, hoping to find something to fill her sleepless night.

She had to find a way to accustom with this silence as soon as possible.

* * *

A/N

Hello. It's me (yep I'm trying to sing Adele's song). Like the status indicates, this is a multi-chapter fic. I hope I can do this till the end and don't mess this up hehe. And yes this will be an Okikagu fic.

Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

Sleepless Night

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Chapter 1

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 _"It's 7 in the morning, and I, Ketsuno Ana, am here to tell you today's weather..."_

The sunlight streamed through the blinds, but it was enough to stir the girl awaked. Kagura opened her eyes slowly, head still throbbing like mad. She could feel her eyes being swollen—a result from sleep deprivation. With her hands she supported her body to sit, wondering why she was on the sofa instead in her bed.

Looking at the TV, who was displaying Ketsuno Ana on its screen, Kagura remembered. She had gone watching TV last night after spending 2 hours—yet it had felt like 5 hours—in bed wide awake. Apparently she had fallen asleep on the sofa while watching some midnight soap opera. Her body felt so stiff and hurt all over.

 _It's only 7 in the morning?_

Kagura mentally counted how many hours she had slept. She remembered she had looked at the clock once not long before she had fallen asleep. It had been 2 AM back then, so she only had slept for maybe 5 hours.

"No wonder I'm still sleepy..." Kagura mumbled to herself, stretching her numb arm. Since 3 month ago, Kagura slept only for 7 hours at maximum, while before then she slept for 12 hours at minimum if there's nothing she had to do in the morning. She had heard that people got used to something in 66 days, but maybe that statement didn't apply to her.

Kagura stood up and lumbered to where Sadaharu was to wake him up. Although she's still feeling drowsy, she would rather to take a walk than to sleep again.

Before the closet where she was supposed to wake up in, Sadaharu was still snuggling into his own legs. His ears twitched the moment Kagura opened the door, then his eyes slowly opened.

"Morning, Sadaharu." Kagura stroked his big head lovingly, making the inugami squealed in joy. "I'm gonna change and then we'll take a walk, yes?"

A bark of approval was her reply.

* * *

Aside from Hijikata Toushirou, Okita Sougo didn't like morning patrol.

What's the point of going patrol at 7 in the morning? Criminals usually acted at night after all. He understood that it was for safety measure, but why that damn Hijikata didn't assign Zaki alone? Okita would rather spend the morning by training in dojo or trying to chop Hijikata's head when there's an opening. However, he was still Hijikata's subordinate—something that he being so bitter of—so he had no choice but comply to the duty the vice captain assigned to him.

"Okita-taichou, let's pass in front of Yorozuya." Yamazaki said while walking beside him. The Shinsengumi captain lifted his eyebrow in response, figuring out his motive immediately.

"What? You want to see the vomiting robot?"

"She has a name, Taichou, and it's Tama-san!" Yamazaki said, defending the object of his stalking activity. "Around this time Tama-san should be sweeping in front of the store."

Huh. No wonder he volunteered to do morning patrol, Okita thought as he scratched his head lazily. "I'm going taking a nap somewhere." He decided quickly, clearly didn't want to join the lovestruck plain guy in his stalking session. Turning around, he walked in opposite direction of Yamazaki, ignoring his shouts.

"Eeeehhh, Taichou! Don't you want to see China-san?"

His ear twitched at the mention of that name. He looked back, eyes looking sharp. "Why the hell do I want to see China."

Yamazaki jolted at the piercing gaze. "… F-for sparring?" He stuttered. "I mean, you used to pick—euh, spar a lot with her."

"I'm going." Okita said in deadpanned voice, actually had enough with the conversation.

 _Don't you want to see China-san?_

What the hell, Okita thought. Sure, he liked to pick on her whenever it's possible, but he would not see her on purpose. He had more important things to do. He would not do something so stalker-like. He was not a stalker!

 _But when did the last time I see her?_

That thought crossed his mind, and Okita stopped walking. When, indeed. It seemed like he hadn't seen her in years, although obviously it hadn't been that long. The last he had seen her was…

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.

 _It was a normal day. There was no sign of storm, sun was shining brightly like any ordinary summer day. Okita was sitting on the porch, lazing around with a fan in his hand, when suddenly a deafening scream made him jolt in surprise._

" _He hasn't come home for 10 days!" A voice shouted. He knew that voice—it belonged to China. She was usually loud, but the tone of her voice was different—he didn't know how it was different, he just felt it—greatly piquing his curiosity. With no further delay, Okita dashed to the front door to see the commotion_

 _He was greeted with a sight of the Yorozuya girl being held back the megane boy. His face looked like a person with constipation, but it was understandable because he was holding down a girl with monstrous strength. Meanwhile, the girl's face was contorted in anger, shouting every word from the top of her lungs. "Gin-chan hasn't come back for 10 days, and you dare to say that maybe he was fooling around somewhere?!" She screamed._

" _Kagura-chan, calm down!" Shinpachi shouted in strained voice. "Kondou-san didn't mean it like that!"_

 _Kondou Isao clearly looked he was taken aback by the outburst of the small girl. "S-sorry, China-san, I didn't mean it like that." He said in apologetic voice. "It's just I heard that he sometimes doesn't go home, so I—"_

 _Kagura gritted her teeth. "Yes, he does! But never without calling at least once!"_

" _Kagura-chan, calm down." The big sister of Shinpachi held Kagura's hand in attempt to ease her anger. "I'll talk to Kondou-san, okay?"_

 _The Yorozuya girl was panting for several seconds, and then she sniffed._

" _You gotta find him…" She whispered in small voice, followed by a hiccup. Okita looked at her with wide eyes, not believing the sight before him._

 _Her eyes were shining, and tears rolled down her face._

 _China was crying._

 _._

 _._

 _._

Okita placed a hand on his forehead as the memory replayed in his brain. Right. The last time he saw her was when she snapped in front of Shinsengumi barrack after she requested for a search for Sakata Gintoki. Apparently at that time the guy had not gone home or even called for at least 10 days, and that greatly worried the girl. Even until now it seemed that he hadn't do either of it. A samurai with silver hair and eccentric way of wearing clothes was not hard to spot, but Okita hadn't see even the shadow of his since 3 months ago. Kondou had dispersed several of his men to search for that particular samurai; however, the only thing that came back was a notebook with his ugly writing. The content made no sense at all, but there was one thing that's sure.

Sakata Gintoki would not likely to come back anytime soon.

As if on cue, from the corner of his eyes he saw someone—that particular someone who was currently invading his mind. He turned around to make sure he didn't see things and he's still sane.

Thank God he's not insane. China was really there, not really far from where he stood but not really near for her to see him. She was walking side by side with her demon dog, umbrella in her hand to shield herself from the sun.

He couldn't help himself but studied her, getting curious because he didn't see her at all for more than 2 months. Her steps were smaller than they usually were, her body a bit slumped. She looked thinner, and her eyes looked dull. Even from he stood, he could see the bag under her eye.

After some time observing the girl, Okita snapped back to reality, realizing he had stared on her more than necessary. Blinking several times, he shook his head, trying to get rid the image of her, and the feeling that surfaced because of her.

He was a sadist, after all. He wasn't supposed to feel.

* * *

"Kagura-chan, have you slept?"

A sudden question from Shimura Tae caught Kagura off-guard. Currently she was in Snack Otose with the employees and Shimura siblings, enjoying their breakfast together. It was something that had become a habit for all of them ever since the disappearance of Gintoki. Maybe they took pity on her for being alone except for her dog. Everyone knew that the young girl was the one who's affected the most by Gintoki's departure, although everybody felt as sad as she did.

When Kagura looked at Otae, the big sister was looking at her face sadly. Kagura could see her own reflection in Otae's brown eyes—she looked horrible. The bags under her eyes were clearly apparent, making her winced slightly. She was this horrible in someone's eyes, how would she look like in reality?

She's terrified to see the mirror.

"I have." The girl replied with a small smile. That was the truth; she has slept. For about 5 hours.

"How many hours?" Otae asked sharply.

 _Uh-oh_. There's no way she would make _anego_ worried about her. "... 8 hours? I went to sleep at 10 last night, and I woke up at 6..."

Otae raised her eyebrow suspiciously. "That seems plenty..." Her words trailed off, making Kagura's heart skipped a beat. She's gonna find out I'm lying, Kagura thought in fear, as her brain racking for any reason she could use to deceive Otae.

"Kagura-chan usually sleeps for 12 hours, Aneue." A voice brought relief upon her. The little brother of Otae, Shinpachi, somehow managed to save her skin.

"Oh? Why didn't she sleep for another 4 hours then?"

Kagura quickly cut in. "I'm trying to change my sleeping hours!" She forced a smile. "I spend too many hours by sleeping. I want to have more hours to play." Cleverly she piled more lies, while in reality she wanted to sleep forever and ever. "I think I will sleep more today. I'm still kinda sleepy."

Otae nodded in understanding, lifting a invisible burden on her shoulders. Her being insomniac was not a big deal, so there's no need for people to know.

She could overcome this. Just not yesterday.

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.

.

Even in her closet, she could hear the gentle pitter patter of the rain. It had fell suddenly at 10 PM, and she had been listening to the sound for so long. Maybe 2 hours.

Kagura sighed in her loneliness.

 _And not today either._

* * *

A/N

YOOHOO people I'm here. Thank you so much for your reviews and your favs hehe I love you guys!

So yeah this fic is related to the second movie. I purposely don't put anything about it in the prologue hehe but I have updated the summary. Basically this story will be about what happened in five years interval and mostly headcanons (obviously) because come on I need some interaction between these two so much.

Also because this fic's timeline is basically five years, this will be a long fic. I'm actually scared to post this because yeah can I hang in there and not abandon this story midway? I sure hope I can.

Again, thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 2

Sleepless Night

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Chapter 2

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The sound of front door being slid woke her up. In her daze state, Kagura listened to the rustling sound, but soon realized that someone had entered the house.

 _It can't be...!_

Hurriedly, Kagura jumped off the sofa to stand up, but ended up falling on the sofa with a groan fell off her lips. Her vision was swirling and morphing to darkness. She stood up too fast.

"Kagura-chan?"

A familiar voice was calling her, but it wasn't the voice she hoped she would hear. Slowly, she opened and blinked her eyes several times, making sure she could see clearly. Kagura lifted her head, ocean-like eyes met Shinpachi's chocolate ones, who were observing her. His expression was the very picture of worry.

The Amanto sighed. "Morning, Shinpachi." She greeted, voice dripping with disappointment. Stealing a look at the clock, she counted how many hours she had slept today. The short hand was pointing at number 7, and she remembered turning on the TV at half past one in the morning. So she slept for around 5 hours at best.

"Did you fall? I hear a 'thump' sound and you were groaning." Shinpachi shortened their distance, settling down beside her. "Are you okay?"

The girl nodded, hand on her forehead. "I stood up too quick."

Shinpachi took a glance on the wall clock. "What are you doing here... at this hour? With the television on, too. Aren't you usually asleep at this hour?"

Kagura found herself unable to speak. In her silence, she could hear her own heart thumping, afraid that Shinpachi would know about her insomnia. The boy was waiting for an answer, and she needed to give him a plausible one quickly.

"I... I went to sleep early yesterday." Kagura answered, her voice sounded so meek. "I said I want to change my sleeping hours, yes? I woke up at 6 earlier, but Sadaharu is still sleeping, so I watch TV to spend time..."

His eyebrows furrowed, eyes studied her carefully. Under the intense inspection, Kagura flinched unnoticeably, feeling goose bumps appear on her skin. She must have not sounded convincing enough.

"You don't look well, Kagura-chan. You don't want to sleep again?"

"No." The girl rejected, a bit too quick. To sleep and be awake at night? There's no way in hell she would do that.

The usual straight man frowned, silently asking her the reason, but she shut her mouth. This was her problem. It's not like if she told him he would be able to fix this insomnia of hers.

"If you worry about food, we can eat lunch or dinner together. You can skip breakfast." He reasoned.

Kagura shook her head. "It's okay, Shinpachi. You worry too much. I'm fine, yes? I'm just not used to it yet."

"For how long?" He blurted. The seriousness in his voice was unexpected, shocking the girl. "Kagura-chan, you've been like this for about 2 months. Do you think we won't notice it?"

 _Of course you all will notice it_ , Kagura admitted in her mind. Remembering how hideous she had looked in Otae's eyes the day before, no wonder people would notice something was wrong with her. She never knew she looked that bad all this time, though.

"You said you want to change your sleeping hours, but actually you just can't sleep, can you? That's why you only sleep for 8 hours instead of 12 like you usually do." Shinpachi said, and Kagura felt like she was a defendant being accused in court. Damn, he nearly hit the nail then.

"... So?" Kagura spat, barely audible for Shinpachi to hear her. Just before Shinpachi asked her what she had said, she spoke again. "What should I do, then? There's nothing I can do other than suck it up, right?"

"You can always take a nap—"

Kagura shook her head vigorously. "And I have said earlier: No." She cut in sternly. "I'd rather be sleep-deprived."

Now Shinpachi was confused. The refusal was extremely unusual. What's wrong with napping? It's not something harmful, and as far as he knew, sleep-deprivation is more dangerous than napping. It couldn't be different for Yato, right?

Her action made him curious, but he didn't want to pry. Seemed like it was a sensitive topic to her, looking how quick she cut his words and how ferocious her expression was.

A sudden idea popped in his mind. "Well then, how about sleeping at my place tonight?" Shinpachi offered. "You can sleep with aneue, and I'm sure aneue will be thrilled. Maybe if you sleep somewhere else you can sleep more easily."

 _That sounds possible,_ Kagura thought. She never really thought of that possibility. Maybe she could find a peace of mind somewhere else. Maybe she could sleep if she's not at Yorozuya.

But...

What if he's home when she's not here?

Lifting her head, Kagura looked at Shinpachi, giving him a smile. "... I'm alright." She tried her best to give him a grin. "It won't be long before I get used to this. It's been 2 months. My body surely has adjusted. It's no big deal."

Shinpachi frowned. "You sure?"

"... Yeah." Kagura answered, heart dropping as she felt a bit guilty for deceiving the guy who's been like a brother to her, along with herself. "I'm fine."

.

.

.

 _Am I really fine?_

Unconsciously, Kagura pondered that in her mind as she held her head. The throbbing was back, and it was painful as fuck. She could feel herself become warmer than usual, and it's certainly not because of the weather. It was nighttime, 9 PM to be precise.

She actually had realized the temperature rise since this morning. However, thanks to her superb acting skill, she managed to fool everyone. When someone asked why her skin's a bit flushed, she passed it off as 'the effect of summer day'. And then she bullshitted about being a Yato and such.

So there she was, sick and totally not fine at Yorozuya, with Sadaharu whining beside her.

Kagura pat him on the head with her right hand, the other pressed on her forehead. "Let's go to sleep, Sadaharu. This surely will disappear after a good night sleep."

Slowly, she climbed to her closet, quickly settled herself on a comfortable position, and closed her eyes. Silently she hoped, by being sick, she could sleep soundly like she craved for these past two months.

"Good night, Sadaharu." Kagura whispered weakly, receiving a muffled reply from her dog.

* * *

A/N

Hello from the other side, guys. I'm truly sorry for the inactivity :( I was busy as hell because, well, college stuff. Exam, assignments, and other things. Actually I'm still busy although it's holiday argh goddammit all :T

Okay sorry for the rant. Anyway, here you go, readers! I thank you who have waited patiently and reviewed me :D Also if you're wondering when Sougo will appear, he will appear next chapter hehe. But yea as I was saying, I'm busy, plus writing also depends on the mood so I don't know when I will update this fic :/ I hope I can update this as soon as possible.

As usual, thank you for reading. Oh and also Merry (early) Christmas! I hope I can update before New Year so I can wish you guys Happy New Year hehe. Stay awesome, guys!


	4. Chapter 3

Sleepless Night

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Chapter 3

* * *

 _A soft tick-tock sound filled the silence as she lied on her back leisurely on the sofa, eyes staring emptily at the ceiling and mouth munching at her all-time favorite snack. Light streamed through the blinds, splashing the room with color orange; the sun must have set already._

 _"Kagura." A deep voice calling her, and her gaze moved from the ceiling to the man who just called her. She beamed at the caller, happiness bubbling inside her chest in the strangest way upon seeing the perm-haired samurai, but she chose to ignore it._

 _"Gin-chan, I'm hungry." She whined, lifting her body to sit and placed her feet on the floor. "What's for din—"_

 _"Aah, I'm going for a drink. Go eat with Baabaa downstairs, will you?" Gintoki turned around and waved his hand. His legs moved rhythmically, taking steps toward the front door._

 _At the sight of him walking away, Kagura blinked, horror gripped her heart like a snake coiling tightly around its prey. Everything seemed to spin, her blue eyes focused only on the back fading into the orange light. A sweat rolled down from her forehead; her brain screamed to not let him go._

 _"Gin-chan, don't—"_

Don't go _, is what she wanted to shout, but she was choking and the air in her lungs felt like lead, weighing her down. She tried to chase him, but her body refused to move, like there was an invisible force that stopped her. Why?_

 _Her vision started to blur as tears started to gather in her eyes. Drop by drop they fell on her cheek; her mouth quivered as she tried to speak her mind, but failed to do so._

If you go, you'll never—

 _The man stopped just before the blinding light, taking a last glance to her over his shoulder. Despite the blinding light and the shadow that ghosted over his figure, she could shape the fatherly smile she always adored. "Don't worry, Kagura. I'll be back soon."_

—come back...

 _"Gin-chan!"_

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.

.

The first thing she realized was herself gasping for air. Desperately.

As she slowly regained her sense, she became aware of her wide-open eyes, her body shaking, and her skin drenched with sweats. Kagura balled her fist to calm herself. It worked.

Closing her eyes, the Amanto tried to control her own breathing and heartbeat. Her heart pounded against her ribcage so loudly it felt painful. She could feel something warm trickled down from her left eye.

She gritted her teeth as she wiped the tears off with her arm.

After she was calm enough to perceive her surrounding, she noticed that her closet was brighter than she remembered. When she looked at her left, her dog was already in her line sight, worried expression plastered on his face. He must have opened the closet door, Kagura deduced. This dog was too smart for his own good.

"... It was a bad dream." Kagura spoke in hoarse voice, her throat felt parched. Sadaharu tilted his head slightly, signing to her that he was listening. "Gin-chan…" She murmured, gulping before continuing, "He's… going… and I can't stop him…"

Just before another tear fell from her eyes, Sadaharu nuzzled his big head against her, comforting her. His fur tickled her nose softly, making her giggle. A warm feeling burst inside her, and she instantly felt a little bit better.

Smilling, Kagura leaned on his big head. "Thank you, Sadaharu. I'm fine now. You can go back to sleep."

The big dog whimpered, unsure. He barked once, as if asking her, 'Are you okay?'

Kagura chose to stay silent, just offering her pet a weak smile, then jumped out of her closet. "I'm going to take a short walk." She informed, ruffling his fur. "Don't follow me, okay? It won't take long."

She could hear the inugami whined again, but she ignored it. Reaching for her coat and her umbrella, the Yato opened the front door, and walked out of the house. Alone time was needed in order to clear her mind.

.

.

.

The nightmare made her temporarily forget about her slight fever, but as soon as she got away from the house, the dizziness came back to her.

"Goddammit." Kagura cursed under her breath, closing her eyes. Leaning her forehead on the nearest pole, the vermillion-haired girl sighed, resting her body for a while. She was definitely not going to go back home. She really needed to be alone now, not to mention the sight of Yorozuya remind her of the nightmare.

 _Why can't I get used to this?_ Kagura wondered in annoyance. Being alone was not something she's unfamiliar with. Back on Rakuyou, Umibouzu was never around, Kamui left like a jerk he was, and Mami was in bed most of times. When her stupid big brother had left her, yes, she had cried a lot and been unable to sleep, but only for several days. When Mami had died at last, the same cycle recurred, but she eventually got better. It hadn't taken this long to recover from the loss.

Kagura repeated the question until it felt like the words had lost their meaning.

"Hey, are you okay?"

A deep voice and a hand on her shoulder shocked her out of her trance. Kagura almost yelped in astonishment, but thank God her brain made it in time to stop her from shouting in the middle of night. Creating a ruckus at this time of day was the last thing she wanted.

Kagura opened her eyes and looked past her shoulder, to see who the hell dare to disturb her alone time.

Her blue eyes met the gaze of those from red eyes, and her pupil dilated.

The owner of red eyes looked at her as incredulous as she did, before uttered her name under his breath, or rather, her nickname.

"… China?"

* * *

Okita Sougo was on his way home from investigating a case when he saw someone leaned on the telephone pole.

 _Did he drink too much?_ The young policeman guessed as he continued to walk as quiet as he could, hoping this person wouldn't notice his presence. Dealing with a drunk was definitely the last thing in his wishlist right now. All he wanted to arrive at home and sleep the night away as soon as possible.

As he became near and nearer to this mysterious person, he noticed there was no barfing sound or vomit on the ground like he anticipated. Let alone barf, even a groan was not heard from this supposedly drunken person, or rather girl, judging from the clothes and figure.

 _Or maybe she's not drunk? Then what's she doing in front of a pole like that?_

Curious, Okita placed his hand on her shoulder and asked about her well-being. The jolt of her body indicated that she wasn't unconscious or sleepwalking, which was relieving but at the same time heightening his interest.

Upon seeing her face, Okita's eyes widened in surprise. This girl… looked a lot like China physically, but somehow different that he himself wasn't sure if the girl in front of him was actually the Yato.

Before he realized, her name fell out of his lips in questioning tone.

It took her awhile until she finally responded. "… Sadist." She greeted in hoarse voice. Seemed like she wasn't happy to see him.

 _She was indeed China_ , Okita registered in his mind, a new question popped up in his brain. "What are you doing at this hour?" He asked, wasting no time to throw the question. His hand released her shoulder, but his eyes never wavered from her face.

"None of your business." The Amanto hissed. "What, are you worried about me?" Sarcasm dripped from her words, and Okita couldn't help but wonder why she was so hostile. But again, she was always like this when she's with him.

"Heh," he snickered before continued, "Why would I? No one would do anything to you. Haven't you seen yourself in a mirror? Even a sick old woman in hospital is more beautiful than you."

"Jerk!" She exclaimed, swinging her umbrella with her right hand to hit his head, but he caught her wrist before her weapon came in contact with him. Kagura winced visibly at his grip, but he didn't let go. Instead, he held it firmly so she couldn't escape, while his eyes bored into her face, studying her.

"Let me go!" Kagura demanded, but Okita remained still, annoying her. She swung her other hand, yet it was caught again.

"Are you trying to wake everyone in Kabukicho? Lower your voice, stupid." Okita scowled, eyes still staring at her with piercing gaze.

Kagura bit her lower lip under his intense stare. For the first time in forever, she felt intimated by him, and the fact she couldn't break free from his grasp wasn't helping at all. Kagura tried to pull her hand away again, but to no avail.

Irked by her antics, the policeman tightened his grip even more. "You never know when to stop, do you? Does lack of sleep make you stupider than you already are?"

At his words, Kagura stopped. Blue eyes widened in shock and mouth opened to let out a gasp. "H… How do you know I lack sleep?"

"Haah?" Okita furrowed his eyebrows, confused. It was a rhetorical question, really. With those huge bags under her eyes, how could he not know? "Even a gorilla would know you lack sleep, you fool. I can even fill your eye bags with rice. How many hours do you sleep?'

"Five ho—" She clamped her mouth before she finished the answer, then quickly averted her eyes from him.

 _Five hours? It seemed plenty_ , he pondered. He himself sometimes slept only for four hours even. _There's nothing wrong with sleeping five hours, but why is she horrified at her own answer? It's like she wasn't supposed to say that._

… _Unless she lies to other people?_

Okita observed the girl for a little longer. She refused to look at him, so it's most likely she did lie to the others—

 _... Wait._

 _Why am I so intrigued by this?_

 _Why am I so interested in knowing w_ _hy she acts like this?_

Realizing he was acting out of character, Okita promptly released her wrists. Kagura lifted her head upon the sudden loss of restraint on her wrists. She stared dumbly at him, and he wondered why did she stay still when she insisted to be released before.

The policeman shrugged. "Just go home and get some sleep." He said before striding past her. After several steps, he looked past his shoulder, and saw the girl indeed walked in direction to her home.

Okita sighed. The image of her when he held her shoulder persisted in his mind. Her eyes looked so dull and her face painted with tiredness. The usual glint he usually saw in her eyes every time they met in the past was nowhere to be found. He remembered too there was something in her eyes that glistened before, and he was sure it was because of tears.

The policeman shook his head before continuing his walk. Why should he care?

* * *

Kagura climbed up her closet as careful as possible so she wouldn't wake Sadaharu. Once she's in, the Amanto lied down, eyes closing in attempt to sleep.

The last thing she remembered thinking about before losing consciousness was: _Why did she instinctively tell him the truth?_

* * *

A/N

YAHOO I'm here, people! I'm happy I actually manage to write this chapter before New Year hehehe. Did you guys have a nice Christmas? Did it snow? I'm in two-season county so I can't experience snow here =v=

Anyway thank you for those who have read and reviewed! Consider this as New Year present from me hehe. Happy early New Year, guys! And stay awesome \m/


	5. Chapter 4

Sleepless Night

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Chapter 4

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"—ra-chan..."

 _...?_

"—ra-chan..."

 _Be quiet._

"—gura-chan..."

 _You're noisy._

"Wake — Kagura-chan..."

 _Shut up already!_

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A blaring noise penetrated her eardrums, jolting her awake from her reverie. Kagura sat up abruptly, surprised to the core by the disruptive sound. Looking at her side, she found the source of the goddamn ringing, in the hand of a certain glasses boy.

Shinpachi sighed. "Finally. Good morning, Kagu—"

 _POW!_

Before he could finish his sentence, her fist had already made contact with his face. Hard. So hard that he fell on the floor with a loud 'thump'.

"Ow! Why are you punching me?!" Shinpachi protested, cradling his cheek which had started to swell.

"I should be the one who's asking 'why'," Kagura said with flat tone, clearly irritated. Her hand was clenched, ready to strike another punch if his reply was a stupid bullshit. "Why the hell are you ringing that clock beside my ear? Do you want me to go deaf?"

" _Aneue_!" Shinpachi hastily answered. "I have tried to wake you up normally, but you wouldn't wake up at all! It's already one in the afternoon, and _Aneue_ is so worried so she told me to take our alarm clock to wake you up!"

Surprisingly, Sadaharu followed up with a bark, supporting the guy's statement.

Kagura blinked in astonishment after processing his words. "Wait, what? One in the afternoon?" she repeated, then bolted to the living room to see the wall clock.

It was indeed one in the afternoon. One fifteen, even.

"Are you searching for a clock? I have one in my hand." Shinpachi gestured at the current object of her resentment in his hand.

"Ugh. Get it away from me. I finally got to sleep—a good one—but you ruined it," Kagura whined, throwing her body on the sofa. "Now my head hurts."

"Stay there; I'm going to get you some water." Shinpachi disappeared into the kitchen, then back after a while with a glass of water in his hand. "Here." He offer the glass, which Kagura accepted with a quiet 'thanks'. "I actually wanted to let you sleep, but Aneue insisted to wake you up. Sorry, Kagura-chan."

The Yato girl put the now-empty glass on the table. "It's okay. No harm's done, yes?"

"But you finally sleep," Shinpachi protested.

Kagura pursed her lips. That's right, she finally slept. Honestly, she had (kind of) forgotten how it felt like to wake up from a good night sleep. And boy did it feel amazing. She felt more refreshed, her vision was not blurry, and her body was more energized.

But how did she do it in the first place?

Her line of thinking broke when she felt a hand grasping her shoulder. It was Shinpachi's. "I'm going downstairs. Otose-san has prepared break—lunch for you, just go downstairs when you're ready, okay?"

The alien only nodded her head and raised her thumb, signaling him that she heard him just fine. Shinpachi gave her one last look, which she couldn't really interpret, before disappeared from her sight.

Sadaharu trotted toward his owner, settling down beside the sofa. He looked at her and whined.

"We'll go downstairs. Don't worry, Sadaharu. I'm also hungry," Kagura said, ruffling his furry head. "Just give me a moment, yes?"

Sadaharu barked once, giving his approval and letting Kagura went back to her last activity: thinking. She tapped her chin curiously and her eyes in attempt to remember events from last night.

 _What did I do before I go to sleep? I remembered having a headache, having a dream..._

Kagura cringed at the memory of last night's dream. _Forget it, forget it_ , she repeated in her mind like a mantra, and forced herself to remember anything from last night but the dream.

 _I remembered going outside_ , she thought. _And then met Sadist_ , she grudgingly continued.

Then something clicked in her mind.

"That's right! Sadist!" Kagura shouted in revelation, making Sadaharu yelped. The inugami had his eyes on her, giving her questioning look that asked, 'What about him?'

Kagura stood up and rushed to her room; Sadahru followed behind her. "Last night I met him," she explained, taking out her clothes from the cupboard. "Maybe he knows something about why I'm suddenly able to sleep," Kagura elaborated, changing her clothes as quick as she can. Sadaharu gave her a bark.

"Yeah, he may not know why," she responded, buttoning her shirt. "But there's no harm in asking, yes?" Kagura took her umbrella and headed to the front door. "Let's have lunch and find him after that!"

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The breakfast—no, the lunch was delicious. The miso soup especially rocked her taste buds; she gulped 10 bowls of it. Otose had noted how she had eaten much more than the day before, and while saying that, she had been smiling. Kagura never realized it, but apparently she ate lesser than she usually did these days—at least according to Otae and Shinpachi. She did realize her appetite was larger than the day before though. She guessed they really said the truth; many people noted how her face looked skinnier now. Kagura couldn't attest to it, because she didn't have the guts to check the mirror lately. Honestly she was kind of scared to see her reflection, especially when she remembered how hideous she had looked in Otae's eyes yesterday. She shivered in disgust.

When they entered the park, it was already twenty past two. The weather was warm and cloudy, but it didn't look like it would rain anytime soon. It's the perfect weather to play outside. Kagura regretted a bit she woke up so late.

However, her goal visiting the park was not to play. Looking left and right, her eyes searched intently for a certain sadistic policeman. He usually hanged out at the park at this time for his patrol break, or at the nearest temple, taking a nap while wearing his creepy eye mask.

Kagura frowned at her own capability to remember where he would be at specific times. No doubt it's because they had too many to count encounters, which she personally considered as a curse. Meeting Okita Sougo often ended up draining her energy, because he brought nothing but trouble to her. Their meeting most certainly would turn into a fight, whether it was barehanded, equipped with weapons, or simply exchanging arguments and snarky comments. Sometimes she wondered if he actually stalked her to pick on her but covering it in the name of happenstance.

The Yato closed her umbrella and looked around. He's usually napping at his break, she thought, scanning the right side of the park. Several benches were occupied. There were an old man reading newspaper, a woman and a child eating taiyaki, and a guy lying leisurely on the farthest bench like he's at his own house—

Kagura sighed grudgingly as she realized she could recognize him even from 15 meters away. Well, that's Okita Sougo, alright. At least he was easy to find.

Just when she wanted to take a step, Sadaharu had already bested her. He let out a bark and ran at full speed toward the resting policeman.

"Wa—!" Kagura shouted, wanting to stop him, but soon realized there's no point in doing so. She would end up waking up Sadist later after all. Walking leisurely, Kagura traced the path Sadaharu had run. She was still 10 meters away, but Sadaharu had already arrived in front of that bench, and that guy's no longer lying down. Sadaharu must have woken him up. Good.

* * *

Okita was a light sleeper, and he acknowledged that fact. Every time he went to sleep, he was aware that any disruptive sound would wake him up. And he always tried to not sweat it too much.

However, that didn't mean he welcomed disruption when he's asleep.

An obnoxious bark almost exploded his eardrums, jerking him away from his light nap. He knew too well the owner of that sound. There's no other dog like it, after all.

Okita groaned, forcing himself to sit instead of lie down. Removing his eye mask, he looked at the big furry dog. It let out a bark, which he interpreted as a greeting.

"Yo," he greeted back. He felt a bit silly exchanging greetings with a dog. Did it really say hello to him? He would never know. "Where's your owner?"

The inugami barked once more, but making no indication of the Yato's location. _This conversation is very informational_ , he thought sarcastically. But what did he expect from a conversation with a dog?

"Well, if you're here, then she must be nearby," he deduced. Rummaging his pocket, he took out a Shinsengumi sausage, opened the package, and threw it to the dog. It caught the food with its teeth.

"Are you trying to poison Sadaharu?"

Okita rolled his eyes upon hearing her comment. "Hey, I was being nice to your dog, giving it food even after he woke me up from my sleep. You should thank me I'm not hurting it."

Kagura frowned. "Maybe you're planning revenge by poisoning him."

"Killing human is one thing, but killing animals is not my cup of tea," he said. "If there's someone I should take revenge on, it's you, since you're the owner. Why did your dog interrupt my sleep? What kind of owner are you?"

The Yato shrugged, grinning. "I think Sadaharu did a great job, actually. What kind of policeman are you, sleeping in the middle of day? I knew it, you guys are just a bunch of tax robbers."

"I'm on my break. I slept late and woke up early, so buzz off." Okita yawned. "So? Is there any reason why your dog woke me up? The reason is better to be logical, by the way." He reached for his sword.

Kagura groaned in frustration. "Ugh, let's settle this peacefully, yes? Do you really have to go violent in everything?" she said. She was not in a mood for fighting; her body was still not fit enough to go all out.

Crimson eyes widened in shock; he was taken aback by her response. "What's this? You're backing out? Do you finally admit I'm stronger than you?"

Kagura swung her umbrella, aiming for his head, but the policeman successfully avoided the hit. "I can take you right here, right now," she hissed. "But I just want to talk."

The policeman raised his hands up, although his face didn't reflect fear at all. "Okay, okay. Pipe down, China. What do you want to talk about?"

She sighed exasperatedly, taking down her umbrella. "Did you do something to me last night?"

One.

Two.

Three.

On the count of four, Okita finally processed that bizarre question. "... What?"

"I woke up at one today," she elaborated. "Did you do something? It's been days—no, months since I last slept for at least 8 hours. Last night I slept for almost 12 hours. And I guess you must know something—"

"Wait, wait," he cut her words. "Your first thought after you finally properly sleep is I did something to you?" Okita confirmed in disbelief.

"There's no other explanation!" Kagura exclaimed. "The only thing that was different from usual is that I met you last night. So confess!"

However, instead answering her, Okita let out a bark of laughter, confusing her. Kagura let in a sharp breath, smacking the bench with her umbrella. "You really did something, didn't you?! Sadist!"

He still laughed, but he managed to form a coherent answer. "Why would I do that? I don't even know you have trouble sleeping this whole time. I literally just knew it last night." He finally stopped laughing. "God, you amuse me. You really have an active imagination."

"Then how can?"

"How should I know?" Okita asked back, frustrated she kept asking for something he didn't know. "You definitely ask the wrong person. Why don't you ask Megane?"

Kagura folded her arms. "I told you; the only difference is you. So I thought you would know something."

"Yeah, of course the person who meets you only once in a while will know," Okita muttered. "This is obviously the face of the person in the know."

"Stop it!" Kagura tried to kick his shin, but Okita moved his leg away. "I don't have any other lead, okay? Honestly, this sleep deprivation fiasco drives me crazy. My body feels sluggish and my head hurts. I can only get 5 hours sleeping at maximum, and mostly I did it on the sofa with the TV on. The night is so quite it's pissing me off. If only Gin-chan were here—"

Kagura stopped when his name slipped her mouth, clamping her mouth with her hand. Okita lifted his eyebrow, confused. After seconds passed and she didn't say anything, he opened his mouth, asking, "Why do you stop?"

She didn't answer him; instead she stared at his face like an idiot. Her face was painted with bewilderment, and he wondered why made her so surprised. Okita looked at behind him, trying to search for the source of her astonishment. Nothing.

The policeman shrugged. _Whatever_. "Well, I think you're just feeling lonely."

"Lonely?"

"Yes, parrot. Since you are used to Danna's presence, being alone in the house—spare for your demon dog—it makes you uncomfortable. The difference makes you feel unfamiliar with your surroundings, and that makes you cannot sleep," Okita explained.

Now the look she gave him changed. China looked at him with wide eyes—he guessed she was shocked because he could give her an answer of her problem. "How do you know?" she asked with low voice.

Okita thought about it for a moment before answering, "Back when I first arrived at Edo, it happened to me. I could sleep normally after a week, though."

"A week?" Kagura repeated. "It's been two months!"

"Well, different people." Okita pointed at her and himself back and forth. "Maybe there's another reason?"

Kagura chewed the inside of her cheek, thinking. "But that's strange. I was just meeting you last night. It's not like anything changed."

"Maybe you actually miss me," the policeman joked, which she responded with eye roll and a sarcastic, 'Yeah, whatever.' _Oh, not a swing of her umbrella_ , he noted. He wanted to tease her even further, but he knew his break was already over.

Okita got up and put on his Shinsegumi jacket that had been draped on the bench. "Well, I'm not a doctor or anything. I just shared what I've been through back then. Maybe yours is a different case altogether," he said. "I'm going back to my patrol. God, my precious break time is wasted on you. I'm so unlucky today."

Kagura huffed in annoyance. "Sorry to waste your time, Mr. Tax Robber," she snorted, then jutted out her tongue.

Okita snickered. "Well, see you around. You know where I am if you miss me." He waved her goodbye, and walked away. A yell hollered, and he chuckled.

"Ugh! I'm _not_ missing you!"

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Kagura still couldn't believe what she had done. God, she's babbling. Moreover, in front of Sadist, of all people!

But what surprised her even more was that he listened. He didn't mock her like she had expected him to. She thought he would consider her problem to be trivial (actually she thought everybody would think so), but instead, he listened, and even gave her some explanation. He actually took her seriously, which was very… out of character of him.

"He's strange, isn't he, Sadaharu?" Kagura asked. Sadaharu tilted his head and barked once, looking utterly confused. The Yato just smiled and shook her head.

"Well, I guess I will ask Shinpachi if we can sleep at his house today," Kagura decided. "Maybe he's right. Maybe I'm just lonely."

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A/N

Sorry for not updating for so long! I don't have any excuse, really. Except I was busy and lazy hahaha. And bad news, I am going to be busy again =="

Well, this story is always on my mind, so don't worry. I won't abandon this story, but I cannot promise fast update haha. I want to say I'll try to update faster, but that's rich coming from me, who is currently doing thesis LOL. But I may post new story every now and then. You never know.

Thank you for reading, and stay awesome, guys!


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